A group of Tufts engineers raced to build the better bridge during the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) regional steel bridge competition at Cousens Gym this Saturday. After enduring hurricane-like conditions and significant pressure, the Tufts team placed second overall in the annual competition, and will now advance to the national contest.
Students from the seven-member steel bridge team have been working since October in preparation for the competition, which requires them to come up with a design for a bridge, purchase the steel and materials, and then race to put it all together. A design that is easy to assemble is key, since one factor in the judging is the time it takes to construct the bridge.
The Tufts team's finished bridge was 23 feet long and weighed 235 pounds. It took 16 minutes for the engineers to erect their bridge, but they received four minutes of penalty time. "We're penalized if parts are dropped, and our heels must be kept on the ground. Since the bridge is being built over a 'river,' nothing can fall in and we can't step in either," team member Claudia Krut said.
Once the bridge was finished, its design was put to the test and judged on such factors as structure, weight, aesthetics, and structural economy (what the team does with the available manpower). The efficiency of design - both in the time it takes to construct and cost of the materials - is also rated.
In one test, a 2,000-pound weight is placed in the center and 500 lbs. is put on one of the ends. The amount of deflection (how much the bridge bends under the weight) is then measured.
Though the bridge was not exactly eye-catching, it fared well in the structural components of the competition, placing first in structural efficiency. However, the simply-designed bridge finished sixth in aesthetics.
"The team this year worked really well together. There were no last-minute details, and everything was in on time," team captain Emma Francis said. "Last year was the first year that Tufts earned a spot at Nationals, and two years in a row is amazing. We were up against some really tough teams at Regionals." There is still work to be done before the crew goes to the national meet, which will be held at Clemson University in South Carolina on May 27. Competition on that day will be far tougher than at last weekend's Regionals.
"We have to reevaluate the weight issue, so we have to figure out ways to reduce the weight, and improve the construction time," Francis said.
Wentworth Institute of Technology was the only team to place ahead of Tufts in the contest. Other schools that competed were the Worcester Polytechnic Institute, the University of Maine, the University of Vermont, the University of Connecticut, Northeastern University, and Central Connecticut State University.
Last year, Tufts placed 23rd at the national competition. Many of the schools Tufts is up against are large state universities, though scoring is adjusted on the basis of manpower, and many of the western universities are considered the teams to beat.
